Menhirs En Provence Grimaud Var (5)Contrary to ‘popular belief’, Brittany doesn’t have the monopoly on menhirs and dolmens (megalithic tombs).
And it wasn’t the adventures of Asterix and Obelix (a menhir sculptor and deliveryman) that brought these mysterious stones to our region.
Menhirs En Provence Grimaud Var (6)
Menhirs En Provence Grimaud Var (8)
Menhirs En Provence Grimaud Var (7)Our friends, the prehistoric humans, are already roaming the plains and hills. These are the original “Grimaudois” (the name for people from Grimaud).
A menhir was found in the middle of the vineyards in the Grimaud plains, where the ‘Golf Up’ academy and driving range was later built.
Near the houses in the Clos des Oliviers, right next to the golf course, there is another menhir, a relic of an long-lost era. They date back to neolithic times (between 6000 and 2000 BCE).
We can’t say with certainty what these menhirs symbolised or what they were used for. However, we do know that dolmens are collective tombs for the cremated remains of the dead. There are likely to be several dozen individuals buried in the dolmens.
We have two of them in Grimaud: one on the boundary of Grimaud and Sainte-Maxime and another in the Lyons neighbourhood.
All of these prehistoric remains are currently on private property. You will need permission from the owners to be able to gain access.
In the Avelan neighbourhood, there used to be a dolmen, which has since disappeared.
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Menhirs En Provence Grimaud Var (4)
Menhirs En Provence Grimaud Var (5)If you’re curious to see menhirs and dolmens, they can be found close to the Mediterranean sea in Ramatuelle, in the heart of the Maures mountains at Plan-de-La-Tour and also in Collobrières.
